1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a device for introducing solid pharmaceutical products into blister packs in which product such as tablets or capsules can be introduced by a distributing device from a pan into an isolating block and through isolating channels to the individual wells of the blister pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices of this type are used when solid pharmaceutical products such as tablets, capsules, sugar-coated pills, and the like are to be loaded into blister packs. The basic goal is to supply exactly one product to each well of the blister pack.
A device of this type is known from DE 100 26 496 A1. From a supply container, in which the products are present as bulk material in completely random order, the products are gravity-fed to the individual wells of the blister pack by means of an isolating block.
A similar device for accomplishing the same task is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,902 A.
A device for orienting asymmetric objects is known from FR 1,420,280 A. This device has a pair of counterrotating cylindrical rolls.
WO 99/24333 A1 describes a device for isolating agricultural products, by means of which the individual objects can be counted and weighed.
A device with which tablets can be packed in tubes is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,289 A. The tubes can be sealed by counterrotating rolls.
A device with which tablets can be loaded into bottles is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,476 A.
The products to be packaged come in many different forms. Tablets are often round and have a cylindrical center section, whereas the two end surfaces have a greater or lesser degree of convex curvature. They are also usually pressed from a preliminary product in the form of powder, which leads to the fact that the surface has a certain roughness. A groove can also be pressed into one of the end surfaces to make it easier to break the tablet in two. Products in the form of capsules and sugar-coated pills are also known.
In devices according to the state of the art, there is the problem that two or more such products can come in contact with each other at the entrance to the isolating block in such a way as to prevent the products from entering the channels of the isolating block. The products start to back up, and the device no longer operates correctly, because it can no longer fill all of the wells of the blister pack with a product. This leads to rejects and to production stoppages.